Musician/Comedian/Tony nominee/whiskey drinker Stephen Lynch takes a break from his international “3 Balloons” tour (in support of his album of the same name) to answer our probing-yet-well-lubricated questions. When it was all over, we held each other and wept.
[Want to see Stephen live? Who can blame you? Click here for upcoming tour dates in the U.S. and the U.K.]
Posted: November 16th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: none
If you’re simultaneously obsessed with social media but irritated by the sheer banality of most content, (It’s raining. We get it.) WitStream.com is the place for you. Founded by television producer Lisa Cohen and co-operated by comedian Michael Ian Black, WitStream is a hand-picked collection of Twittering comedians, writers, and humorists, whose updates are savory little nuggets of freshly-fried funny.
Perhaps the best part about WitStream is that the users (including Matt Braunger, Rob Delaney, Myq Kaplan, and Laurie Kilmartin) engage in conversation with each other in a way that’s easy for an audience to follow. No “@” symbols and re-tweets here; comedians ruffle each others’ feathers in real time, and you get to watch.
The site officially launches today, November 2, and is celebrating with an A-list show TONIGHT at Comix, featuring Michael Showalter, Baron Vaughn, Pete Holmes, Doug Benson, Josh Fadem, Morgan Murphy, and, of course, MIB himself.
Rooftop managed to tear our eyes away from WitStream activity long enough to catch up with Queen Bee Lisa Cohen.
Posted: November 2nd, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 2
By Comedian Sean Keane
New Orleans and New England ran up the score in huge victories, and the Eagles and Jaguars ran up their fans’ blood pressure in an exciting weekend of NFL action. The Jets ran for a ton of yardage in a loss, the Titans ran into a snowstorm and an offensive buzzsaw in New England, and the Redskins are trying to run their head coach out of town. In addition, field goals were made and missed seemingly at
ran-dom, and a fourth-down stop by Cleveland against Pittsburgh was overruled by a referee’s decision worthy of election officials in I-ran.
Posted: October 20th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 3
I was thinking today about what got me interested in stand-up comedy, what my earliest memories of comedians are, what made me laugh as a kid that still makes me laugh today.
My parents were fairly strict about monitoring my TV and movie watching habits growing up, so I was never exposed to, say, Richard Pryor or George Carlin. (Except, of course, when Carlin appeared as The Conductor on “Shining Times Station.” Choo chooooo.) But Dad was a huge Mel Brooks fan, and the jokes encompassed enough innuendo that, as kids, we didn’t get it when Young Frankenstein’s Inga vanted to take a roll in ze hay, or when Blazing Saddles’ Lili Von Shtupp crooned that men were always coming and going and going and coming…too soon. We just thought that Frau Blucher was silly, that Sherrif Bart was goofy. We just liked to laugh.
Then, when I discovered Gilda Radner…I was hooked. I’d found my idol. Most girls my age were into (and I’m dating myself here) Debbie Gibson and Tiffany and the New Kids on the Block. I loved Gilda. Loved Steve Martin. Loved loved loved Gene Wilder.
What about you?
Posted: October 15th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 6
Live from The Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival… two guys that “usually don’t drink” – “drink”, and the results are hilarious! Peep it.
Posted: September 30th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: none
By Comedian Sean Keane
It was a banner day for Sean-variant names in the NFL this week. LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson each scored touchdowns for Philadelphia. Shawntae Spencer intercepted a pass for the 49ers. Knowshon Moreno rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos. And Marshawn Lynch was still suspended, so he didn’t have to watch the Bills get trounced by New Orleans. Without further digress-sean, let’s get recapping a sensaseanal week in the NFL.
Posted: September 29th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 3
Attention football fans! Comedian Sean Keane has joined forces with Rooftop Comedy to bring you “NFLOL”, a weekly recap of NFL football so funny your jock will itch.
NY Jets 16, New England Patriots 9
It was a good day for people who hate asshole fans from Boston, but a bad day for people who hate douchebag fans from New York. Tom Brady is now 1-2 in his last three full games. After a disastrous game, he’ll have to console himself by fucking his supermodel wife or
napping on a mattress stuffed with hundred dollar bills.
New Orleans Saints 48, Philadelphia Eagles 22
If you want to keep Philadelphia fans from booing Donovan McNabb,
the solution is to let them watch Kevin Kolb play once a year. Andy
Reid hasn’t seen a beating like this since he visited his sons in
jail. Meanwhile, Drew Brees has been the anti-Kolb all year, throwing
nine touchdown passes in two weeks. Have opposing cornerbacks been
making fun of his birthmark?
San Francisco 49ers 23, Seattle Seahawks 10
Frank Gore’s two long TD runs and the team’s 2-0 start has 49er fans
thinking about the semi-glory years of Garcia-to-Hearst, and dreaming
about losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Arizona Cardinals 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 17
Jacksonville’s leading rusher was Maurice Jones-Drew, and their
leading receiver was Mike Sims-Walker. This tells me that the team
needs to recruit some playmakers who were raised by both parents. The
Jags were so bad in the first half that Jacksonville native Fred Durst
called it, “the worst performance I’ve ever seen – and we toured with
Staind.”
Houston Texas 34, Tennessee Titans 31
This game might as well have been played on Madden: Tennessee had
touchdowns of 57, 69, and 91 yards, while Houston had 72- and 29-yard
touchdown passes within a minute of each other. The game ended when
Kerry Collins fumbled the ball, untouched, which also looked like a
computer-forced error. Jeff Fisher is tempted to “reset” his
entire season after two home losses.
Washington Redskins 9, St. Louis Rams 7
DC fans booed the ‘Skins for only beating the wretched Rams by two.
After the game, rookie linebacker Robert Henson – who hasn’t played
yet this year – responded via Twitter, “Who are you to say you know
what’s best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at McDonalds”. In a
related story, linebacker Robert Henson will be working at McDonald’s
in 2010.
Atlanta Falcons 28, Carolina Panthers 20
Jake Delhomme threw only one interception Sunday, compared to the four
he threw last week, and the five he threw in the playoffs last year.
Delhomme’s new contract pays him $20 million guaranteed. Is Michael
Jordan running this North Carolina team, too?
Minnesota Vikings 27, Detroit Lions 13
Adrian Peterson is really good, Brett Favre is really old, and the
Lions are still really bad. This was their 19th loss in a row, and
they probably won’t win for at least another month. At this point,
ownership might petition Congress for a bailout, or failing that, two
extra games against the Rams.
Cincinnati Bengals 31, Green Bay Packers 24
The Packers recovered an onside kick and drove to the Bengals’
ten-yard-line with two seconds left, then lost when one of their
players false-started. That’s like a player hitting a grand slam, down
four runs in the ninth, and getting called out for running out of the
baseline. Packers fans were crying into their fried cheese all
afternoon.
Oakland Raiders 13, Kansas City Chiefs 10
The city streets, dive bars, and tattoo parlors of Alameda County were
full of filthy, leather-clad fans shouting “Raaaaiders!” after
Oakland’s thrilling win on Sunday. To be fair, that would have been
the case even if the Raiders lost, but we like to think there were
slightly fewer arrests after the win.
Buffalo Bills 33, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
Saturday was “Talk Like a Pirate Day” worldwide. On Sunday, Buffalo
celebrated “Beat the Crap Out of the Team Named after Pirates Day”.
Tampa was about as tough as a bunch of software pirates. Arrr they
gonna fire the new coach?
Baltimore Ravens 31, San Diego Chargers 26
Ray Lewis’s stupid dance trumped Shawne Marriman’s stupid dance as
Baltimore edged out San Diego. In fairness to Merriman, his hands
were probably still sore from choking Tila Tequila.
Chicago Bears 17, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
Pittsburgh held Adrian Peterson to 16 yards, but still lost. OK, it was
the “Other Adrian Peterson”, so it’s kind of like striking out “Tony Gwynn“.
Kicker Jeff Reed missed two field goals for the Steelers, because he is worthless.
Denver Broncos 27, Cleveland Browns 6
When he took the Jets to the playoffs, Browns coach Eric Mangini was
known as “Mangenius”. If the Browns have any more games like this
one, he’ll soon be known as Coach Mangina.
NY Giants 33, Dallas Cowboys 31
There was a lot of pre-game talk about the Cowboys new stadium with
its oversized scoreboard, and whether punters would hit it during the
game. That didn’t happen Sunday night, but the real question is if
Tony Romo could hit it with a pass, or would his attempt be
intercepted on the way up?
Indianapolis Colts 27, Miami Dolphins 23
The winning touchdown came on a 48-yard pass to Pierre Garçon, who may
be the first player ever to have a cedilla on the back of his jersey.
Antoine Bethea made the game-clinching interception, meaning that the
two most important players for the Colts sound like they should be
cast members in Cirque du Soleil.
Sean Keane is a stand up comedian, writer, and sports fan based in San Francisco, Ca. He has written for ESPN the magazine, Mc Sweeney’s, and the ever popular NBA tumblr.
Posted: September 23rd, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 1
Revision 3 and Rooftop Comedy have teamed up to bring you “ROFL,” a weekly roundup of the web’s best stand up comedy clips. In this episode, aptly named “Cocaine, Beer, and Drunken Dancing,” some of the nations edgiest comics dish up the laughs like a good shot of whiskey: strong, unfiltered, and straight to the dome. Bust it.
Posted: September 22nd, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: none
I first met Rob Delaney earlier this year at “Tiger Lily,” one of LA’s most popular alternative comedy shows. He was the host of the show, and I was one of the comics on the line up. As an out of towner, I didn’t know what to expect from the crowd and was a bit nervous about it, but Rob introduced himself, and was friendly, kind, and HILARIOUS, and made me feel at ease about performing in a new town. Rob Delaney = One solid dude.
AND he has a hilarious twitter, too: “Beat the fuck out of anyone! Even a woman! – Monster Energy Drink actual slogan.”
I recently reconnected with Rob to discuss his hilarious MA Men video, Boston sports, and what it was like to work with one of the New Kids on the Block.
1) You were faced with a daunting task – portraying Don Draper (the coolest man on television) AND the ultimate MASShole. How did you prepare for the role?
Well, the Masshole thing took no preparation. I was born in Boston and grew up just outside of the city, so I just talked like my family talks and voila. I wore my own Red Sox shirt and Larry Bird Converse Weapons. As far as portraying Don Draper, I just tried to have him be the aloof center of things while other people went nuts around him.
2) Like you, Jon Hamm seems like he’s a staple in the LA alternative comedy scene. Do you guys know each other? How does he feel about the spoof?
I’ve never met Jon Hamm. He is “on the scene” so to speak and I know Jamie Denbo (who wrote “MA MEN” & plays Joannie in the video) and Jessica Chaffin (Marcie) know him. He’s done their magnificent “Ronna & Beverly” show at the UCB. By now he’s probably seen it, but I cannot officially confirm it. Rich Sommer, who plays Harry on Mad Men told me he liked it.
3) What was it like working with Joey Mac? Follow up question “what are you a fag?”
Joey was awesome. He was very funny, very nice and up for anything. He is extremely beautiful and his eyes are hypnotic pools of blue. To answer your follow up question, yes I’m a super fag, and I’m willing to prove it.
4) The Red Sox shout outs were great, but as a big basketball fan, what really stood out to me was the Dana Barros jersey! Are you a big Boston sports fan yourself? A Celtics fan? I’m a huge Laker fan. How do you feel about THAT?
I am primarily a Red Sox fan. I enjoy watching the Celtics too, but I’m really a baseball guy. I should probably tell you that I actually sing the national anthem at Fenway before games occasionally. I used to sing before I did comedy and I had a friend at the Red Sox who asked me if I wanted to do it years ago. I’ve done it several times since.
5) Aside from the MA Men video, what’s your favorite new web video?
There are so many. Funny or Die’s batting average is so high. Not only are they funny and original, they even address political issues with very sharp satire more and more these days. One recent one of NO societal value that I LOVE is Rob Corddry and Seth Morris’s “Broner” video. And it’s good because it’s a funny idea, sure, but they both take it DEADLY seriously, which makes it amazing. Plus, I love videos where one guy tightly, angrily holds another guy’s erect penis, letting him know who the “boss” is.
6) What’s next for Rob Delaney? Any fun stand up comedy shows or new videos coming up?
I do standup constantly in LA and around the country. I have a big, yet-to-be-named show in LA in October where I tell one long funny story that will likely help secure affordable health care for all Americans and also help me get my “dinky stinky”. Also, I’m in a new show coming out this winter on the Sci Fi channel called “Outer Space Astronauts”.
Follow Rob on twitter: www.twitter.com/RobDelaney
Posted: September 21st, 2009 under Interview, Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: none
In this new Bill Cosby vlog, the Cos talks about meeting Bob Dylan for the first time in 1963, and as you can see, he was thoroughly not impressed with the guy.
The first thing that came to mind after watching this video was Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” a play which revolves around the meeting of two legends (Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso) and their discussions regarding the value of genius.
I’d like to take a moment to re-write the play using the Cosby and Dylan as the lead characters, and the dialogue from the vlog you just watched as the dialogue in the play.
I give you: “Bill Cosby at the Lapin Agile”.
1963. A smokey night club. Greenwhich Village.
A Beatnik sits at the bar. The Cos is sitting next to him.
Beatnik: Hey, Man, I want you to meet somebody.
The Cos: Okay.
Beatnik: This cat is one of the greatest writers in the world, Man.
Cosby: This is 1963. I’m Miles Davis, I’m John Coltrane, I’m Eric Dolphy, I’m “Philly” Joe Jones, I’m Ahmad Jamal, I’m Oscar Peterson. I’m Jazz. I’m Thelonious Monk. I’m Ben Riley. I’m Jazz.
Beatnik: ?
The two walk over to Bob Dylan’s table. Dylan is sitting cross-legged and fiddling with his hair, discreetly swigging on wine.
Beatnik: Hey, Man, this is Bob Dylan.
Cosby: (unimpressed) How are you?
Dylan: Umyay maya micky mutumbo blargh blargh blargh.
Cosby exits the bar. Plays basketball.
The End
I think it’s a shame that the meeting of these two geniuses was so fruitless. How great would it have been if they had hit it off and starting working together? They could have easily been the greatest buddy cop duo in movie history! Leonard part Highway 61 Revisited! * Are you kidding me?
*A free Rooftop Tshirt to the first person that photoshops this.
Posted: September 16th, 2009 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 3
